Supreme Court Decision “A New Precedent for Governmental Overreach”

Published: June 28, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Moments after the United States Supreme Court ruled to uphold the health care reform bill – while identifying the mandate as a new tax on Americans – Senator Murkowski had the following response to the decision. Senator Murkowski will also have a teleconference with the Alaska press corps today at 10am AKDT.

“Today’s news from the Supreme Court is troubling to me in that it sets a new precedent for governmental overreach into our health care choices, and a wide majority of Alaskans and Americans feel the same way.

“Moving forward, we must repeal this bill and responsibly address health care in a timely fashion. There are many reasons why Alaskans did not like this bill – whether it is because of the new federal tax forcing every American to purchase a service, over $500 billion in cuts to the already anemic Medicare program which would have further restricted access to doctors and hospitals for disabled and elderly Alaskans, the higher taxes on individuals, families and small businesses throughout America or the onerous new IRS reporting requirements for millions of Americans.

“We need health care reform that will help Alaskans – helping them improve access to care; and reduce costs by allowing individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines, reform medical liability so we can limit the practice of defensive medicine, and restructure the delivery system of health care to make it more affordable and accessible.

“The nation’s economic path is currently unsustainable, and the rising cost of health care is a major reason for this. America’s health care system is entirely too expensive and entirely too inefficient. I stand ready to work with anyone who wants to replace this law with something smarter, leaner and more responsive to Alaskans.”